Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises the adverse impact on victims, witnesses and on the accused of prolonged proceedings, and is supporting justice agencies to improve the management of cases to minimise unnecessary delays. For example, through its investment in the Recover, Renew and Transform Programme, justice agencies are delivering reforms to support early resolution of summary cases at the outset and to focus trial preparation in cases which cannot be resolved. This work builds on the introduction by the judiciary of Pre-Intermediate Diet Meetings (PIDM) in December 2020, a new procedure aimed at reducing the risk of late-stage rescheduling.

Transport officials have had one specific meeting on micro-mobility including e-Scooters at which the possibility of legislation and regulation was discussed. This was an information provision session and not a discussion.

The Secretary of State for Transport wrote to me in April 2022 about his proposals for a new framework for micro-mobility in UKG’s forthcoming Transport Bill. In my response I stated that where proposals may encroach on devolved interests, it is expected that UKG should seek the Scottish Parliament’s legislative consent in a timely manner, and respect the outcome of the Scottish Parliament’s decision on consent.

We are currently undertaking a refresh of the Social Security Programme Business Case and we will publish an updated version by the end of this year, which will include a refreshed delivery timetable and updated cost estimates.

E-scooters are currently illegal to use in any public spaces in Scotland but they are legal to sell and own, resulting in an increasing number in illegal use in Scotland.

E-scooters are covered by the same laws and regulations that apply to all motor vehicles. This means e-scooters need to meet the various requirements of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to use public roads lawfully (e.g. road tax, technical safety standards).

Whilst the use of powered transporters and decisions around their introduction and associated legislative changes are primarily a matter for the UK Government, additional legislation and associated guidance would be required for Scotland.

The Secretary of State for Transport wrote to me in April 2022 about his proposals for a new framework for micro-mobility in UKG’s forthcoming Transport Bill. We will fully participate in that and I expect UKG to seek the Scottish Parliament’s legislative consent in a timely manner, and respect the outcome of the Scottish Parliament’s decision on consent.

I am aware that DfT carried out trails in England to develop e-scooter regulatory framework.

The DfT had not factored into its trial programme the legislative changes that would be required in Scotland to allow trials to take place here. Consequently, the trials which took place in England could not be hosted by Scottish local authorities.

Currently, we have received no data from the trials in England. My officials will continue to push for sight of the data to gain a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of legalising e-scooters.

Incidents of anti-social behaviour on the rail network in Scotland are recorded by the British Transport Police (BTP) and can be sourced via the following link:- Stats and data | British Transport Police (btp.police.uk)

The Scottish Government is delighted to announce a package of funding totalling over £30 million to support a more equitable transition to zero emissions transport, ensuring that those who often face the biggest barriers to adopting EVs are not left behind.

This includes almost £2m to support households living in flats and rural areas across Scotland, recognising that access to EV infrastructure must be more equal across our communities. We will intensify our focus in these areas, helping homeowners, businesses and charities cope with post-covid recovery and the cost of living crisis.

We are providing additional funding through our Plugged in Communities Scheme to community transport operators and not-for-profit third sector organisations. This will support zero emission car-clubs and the procurement of zero emission community transport vehicles for lower income and rural communities across Scotland.

Our Low Carbon Transport Loan will make available £28m in interest free loans to support the purchase of used electric vehicles. The electric vehicle market has transformed significantly, and now is the time to encourage growth in the second hand market which will provide more options to those on lower incomes. We will also continue to support businesses including the taxi industry make the transition to zero emission vehicles.

I am proud of our bold action to decarbonise Scotland’s Transport sector by supporting the shift to electric vehicles. Over the past 10 years we have provided interest free loans worth more than £165m to support the purchase of low emission vehicles, our plugged in community car clubs have covered over 400k zero emission miles. And we have also supported individuals and businesses across Scotland to install over 17,500 EV charge points.

To help encourage the shift to electric vehicles, we have also invested over £50 million to develop ChargePlace Scotland, Scotland’s public charging network, which now has more than 2200 publicly available charge points. The latest figures show that Scotland is leading the way in electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the UK, with Scottish electric vehicle drivers benefitting from over 50 public charge points per one hundred thousand people, compared to less than 40 in England (regional totals and London excluded), just over 30 in Wales and less than 20 in Northern Ireland.

As further evidence of our commitment to decarbonise transport, in January this year we announced a new draft vision for Scotland’s public electric vehicle charging network. It provides the guiding vision on how Scotland’s public electric vehicle charging network will continue to grow across Scotland in a fair and inclusive way.

At its heart is a commitment to make the public charging network truly people-focussed, catering for the needs of all of its users and ensuring that it is reliable, accessible and affordable. The raft of financial support being announced today will strengthen this commitment further and provide much needed help for those who are coping with the rising cost of living.

The following table details the number of reusable nappies provided each year through the Baby Box reusable nappy voucher scheme and the cost.

Families who take up the nappy offer are offered a discounted package should they wish to continue with reusable nappies. From June 2020 – April 2022, 224 families have used the discount and purchased further reusable nappies. The supplier started recording the data from June 2020 and we do not have a record of voucher redemptions before that period.

Evidence on the performance of the operator in respect of the Temporary Measures Agreement (TMA) performance criteria will be assessed by Transport Scotland at the end of the TMA period.

The performance scores achieved by the operator against each criteria will be used to calculate the performance payments.

Powers related to consumer protection, and to the energy price cap set by Ofgem, are reserved to the UK Government. However, I am concerned that energy consumers who are not registered directly with a licenced energy supplier may not be protected by the price cap and may not be eligible for the £400 rebate support announced by the UK Government. This affects those living in park homes, for example, in which a landlord bills households for their for energy use and is also a particular issue for heat networks.

The Scottish Government has raised the issue of unequal treatment of those households who do not have a domestic supply contract with the UK Government, who must ensure that any support for consumers is applied to all those that need it. I am also concerned by the current lack of regulation around the supply of heat via heat networks and I am clear that work to address this by the UK Government through Energy Security Bill is needed urgently, and suppliers must take action to support their customers ahead of any legislation coming into force.

Where concerns have been raised over affordability my officials have contacted the suppliers involved to highlight these and push for improved practice from those involved, we have also worked closely with Citizen’s Advice Scotland and others to support affected customers.

Network Rail is undertaking restoration works following a serious fire, in July 2021, which caused extensive damage to Troon station building as well as overhead power equipment.

To date (a) £900,000 has been spent on Troon to make the station safe following the fire and to undertake temporary works to bring the station back into use for passengers.

The full cost of rebuilding the station will be dependent on the design selected for the new station building. Options for the new building will be publicly available later this summer.